“The problem is with the press,” Nabil Sedki said on a recent afternoon, taking a deep drag on his cigarette as he settled into a giraffe-patterned armchair in his office. He was five days into the job. “The media fabricated the suicide.”

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The giraffe in question was a 3-year-old named Roqa, who, Sedki said, inadvertently hanged herself earlier this month after getting tangled in a wire inside her enclosure.

The state has launched three investigations — one purely forensic, another by the government’s official veterinary body and a third by a legal committee — “to see who will hang instead of the giraffe,” Sedki said with a wry laugh.

Zoos are prone to bad publicity, especially when something goes wrong. The government-run Giza Zoo, in the heart of Egypt’s chaotic capital, may be particularly susceptible, given the country’s floundering economy, the tumult of nearby political demonstrations and an overall poor track record in animal care.

In May, three black bears died in a single night under mysterious circumstances. Zoo authorities called it a bear “riot.” In 2007 and in 2008, local media reported that zoo-keepers were slaughtering the park’s camels for meat — to eat themselves, and to sell to other hungry Egyptians.

And this month, the independentAl-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported that Roqa had committed suicide. The article went viral. (The same newspaper reported in August that the giraffes and other large animals at the zoo were so troubled by Egypt’s ongoing political unrest — especially the chants of protesters from the Muslim Brotherhood in a nearby public square — that they had been mulling suicide for a while.)

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“Is there anyone who actually believes that this giraffe committed suicide?” Sedki asked. As he spoke, a fresh, stinging cloud of tear gas wafted in through an open doorway, and the thudding blasts of tear-gas cannons could be heard from the latest clashes between student protesters and police at neighbouring Cairo University.

The campus is just northwest of the 122-year-old zoo, the biggest and oldest of Egypt’s seven zoological parks. On its north flank, just outside the zoo’s main gate, is Nahda Square, which served as a permanent protest encampment for supporters of ousted Egyptian presidentMohamed Morsifor more than a month in the summer. Police used bullets and tear gas todisperse the protesters in August, killing scores of people.

When police fire tear gas at protesters, the irritating vapors inevitably make their way toward the animal enclosures, compelling zookeepers to wrap their faces in scarves on the worst of days. It has gotten to the animals, too, Sedki said.

“The sounds of the bullets and the tear gas affect the animals,” Sedki said. Some of the large animals, such as lions and hippos, have displayed “restlessness and tension,” he said.

Sedki said zoo authorities had moved some of the animals to different enclosures but found that they had few good options, given that all 80 acres of the zoo are bordered by roaring traffic and gritty urban sprawl.

For that same reason, Egyptians see the zoo as a rare — if dilapidated and underfunded — oasis of green. It costs about 70 cents (5 Egyptian pounds) to enter. Families bring picnics and set up camp for the entire day on the grassy medians. Couples stroll hand in hand, and bands of giggling teenagers roam.

“I know that in the West, going to the zoo is like going to a museum — you go to get knowledge,” Sedki said. “But here, they come to visit a garden, not a zoo.”

Animal rights activists — themselves a rare breed in Egypt — have long been concerned about conditions at Giza, which echo the nation’s widespread poverty and bureaucratic failings after decades of authoritarianism and turmoil.

“This is not a zoo,” said Mona Khalil, a founder of the Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals, which runs two shelters and provides free veterinary care to poor farmers on Cairo’s outskirts. “This is hell for animals.”

Many of the zoo’s employees earn less than $60 a month, activists say, and have little experience or training and even less incentive to protect the animals they care for. Instead, the employees follow visitors over the zoo’s muddy and potholed paths, offering scattered “facts” about the animals’ daily lives or an opportunity to get closer to them — in the hope that it will yield tips.

On a recent afternoon, some keepers touted the chance to hold a lion cub — or, if the visitor would prefer it, a monkey or a baby crocodile — for the equivalent of about $3.60.

Adult lions, cramped in iron-barred cages that resembled the circus pens of an earlier era, crunched on animal carcasses, as visitors used their cellphones to take pictures. Hippos and pelicans drifted through murky water. And a sickly black bear watched as a pair of stray cats hunched over its food dish.

“Anyone want a picture with a baby lion? Anyone want a picture with a baby lion?” an employee droned as he stood next to a row of cages, a camera around his neck.

Another zoo-keeper gestured toward a rhinoceros that was nosing around in the shade of some trees. “Her husband died six months ago,” the keeper said in a cheerful, casual tone. “She killed him with her horn.” Without further explanation, the keeper quickly walked away.

No one in the zoo’s administrative office was quite sure how many animals are kept on the premises. Staff members searched through files in the high-ceilinged administrative headquarters — a building full of binders, and apparently devoid of computers — but were able to find figures only from 2009: 78 species of mammals, 82 species of birds and 26 species of reptiles — for a total of 4,631 individual animals. Of those, about “forty-something” are lions, Sedki said.

Published on 22 Sep 2,012 – Part of investigation conducted by Hatem Moushir, 21 September 2012 – in Giza Zoo

News comments:– Felinis Wrote – 12/18/2013 6:27 PM GMT

Kabul, Afganistan:Marjan the lion was injured in 1994 when a visitor tried to impress his friends by climbing into his den. When the animal’s mate attacked and killed him, the man’s brother came to the zoo the next day and threw a grenade at Marjan in revenge. The explosion blinded him, broke his jaw and destroyed seven teeth.

The 25 year-old beast who was half-blind, lame and almost toothless died of old age in 2002 only weeks after an international animal rescue mission arrived to help him.

Reports on the news stated that the three female bears were fighting over a male.

Two days later, the Al-Watan newspaper broke the story; the three bears died because of a sedative overdose, leading to two falling over and breaking several bones, while the remaining one drowned.

A photo of a starving lioness at Alexandria Zoo ignited anger last August, gaining international scrutiny from animal activists. The zoo manager assured them the case was under control. A day later, the lioness died.

Similar stories of the negligence of the seven governmental zoos in Egypt can be easily dug up. One only has to walk through one of them to see the abuse; malnourished lions, hippos swimming in filthy ponds, wild dogs injured and left untreated, seals that perform tricks on command, brown bears spoon-fed and petted by visitors

You do not have to be a specialist to see the abuse first-hand.

Giza Zoo, because it is located in the capital, gets the lion’s share of media attention, followed by Alexandria Zoo. The conditions of the other governmental zoos in Beni Suef, Fayoum, Kafr El-Sheikh, Mansoura, and Tanta are even worse. Puny and injured animals suffering from malnourishment is a major concern.

Gaza is another place you wouldn’t necessarily think of having a zoo. In recent years the Palestinian city has suffered from Israeli blockades and internal conflicts, and its zoo hasn’t fared much better. Today it houses two lions, a few monkeys, some birds, rabbits, cats, dogs and two fake zebras: donkeys painted with black and white stripes (pictured).
The zoo once had two real zebras in its collection, but they died of malnutrition during the Israel-Hamas war, when there was actual fighting within the zoo itself. Zoo officials later tried to replace the zebras, but finally opted for painted donkeys due to limited funds.

Donkeys painted to look like Zebra:-http://www.animals-zone.com/saddest-zoos-world

Founded in 1891, the Giza Zoo in Cairo, Egypt, was once among the best zoos in Africa. But today it’s a shell of its former glory, expelled from the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2004 after failing an inspection. WAZA director Peter Dollinger wouldn’t tell Reuters in 2008 why exactly the zoo was expelled, saying only that “There were things that were not acceptable.”

Zookeepers reportedly augment their salaries by charging patrons to enter the cages with the animals, and two men broke into the zoo in 2007, killing two camels. Dozens of birds died from avian flu in 2006, and more than 500 were slaughtered to stem the outbreak. According to the Global Post, zoo workers also inhumanely killed two gorillas in 2004 thought to be infected with the Ebola virus.

“I’m posting this petition on behalf ” Occupy For Animals” because I feel so strongly about the way street animals are treated in Romania; which could so easily be solved, by registration, identification, sterilization & vaccination.

I am hoping people will read the following information, learn about what is happening in Romania; & sign the petitions to end this barbaric cruelty . Please read the entire post below, then sign the petitions & send to friends etc. The rest of the world has to know what happens to street animals in Romania etc. Please also sign the petitions at the end of this post; which are just as important!”

The street dogs of Romania are hated, poisoned, beaten, stabbed, shot, run over by cars, burned, and dumped in pits to starve to death. Some who are killed have their ears cut off by people who are able to turn them in for “rewards”. Hundreds of thousands of innocent dogs condemned to death every year, their only crime is being born. :-http://www.occupyforanimals.org/romania–organized-crime–stray-dog-business.html

This petition was started by Occupy for Animals! on April 13, 2013 – the petition letter that comes both in Romanian and English has been provided by our friend, Mira Iordanescu.

ABOUT THE ISSUE:

Romania, as a country member of the EU, must implement those measures to control the overpopulation of stray animals which have been proven efficient in all the civilized world: capture/sterilize/return …. but it appears that very many mayors in Romania have decided to kill as many stray dogs as possible.

In mid March 2013, the Romanian Senatehas passed, with an overwhelming majority, the Bill 771/912/2007, regarding the management of stray animals, and based on the Judiciary Committee of theRomanian Parliament, only the animals suffering from incurable ailments can be euthanized.

According to the information that we have received from Romanian activists, this proposal did not sound well with many mayors in Romania, as well as many veterinarians (!) and the Association of Romanian Municipalities has contacted the Committee for Public Administration at the Romanian Parliament during their session from 3rd of April 2013, and proposed the most horrible amendments possible, of which the euthanasia after only 10 days of all animals captured and living in state run shelters (public shelters) being the most horrible and barbaric of all.

It is our understanding that the Committee for Public Administration at the Romanian Parliament will meet again in two weeks to make a final decision and to vote on all new amendments and then to send the Bill to the Romanian Parliament for a final vote in a plenary session. The new meeting is expected to take place around the 16th or 17th of April, 2013 – but the date has not yet been confirmed !!!

We are afraid that local authorities – the town halls – have (again) decided to kill as many animals as they possible can, and we all know how “euthanasia” is done in Romania, and we all know also that most public shelters are in factDEATH CAMPS for the animals – dogs that have the misfortune to get caught and brought to such a so-called municipal shelter, rarely walk out alive again!

Mira Iordanescu had already started a petition – the signatures list will be forwarded to FPAM who will be at the Parliament. FPAM will print and present it to the Committee before the meeting.

But we definitely need a HURRICANE of EMAILS!

Please help us to avoid these new amendments from becoming reality – please sign our petition and share it with your friends and family and ask them to take action, too.

Derby served as PAWS president and tireless advocate.PAWS will continue under Stewart’s leadership, according to an official statement from the nonprofit organization.

A celebration of Derby’s life will be held at a later date.

“Pat Derby was a partner, leader, mentor, teacher and friend,” the statement added. “She was the first to champion the cause of performing animals, and today, because of her tireless work and fierce determination, most animal protection organizations now have captive wildlife programs that address the issues of performing animals.”

More than 36 years ago, Derby began her crusade while working with captive wildlife as a Hollywood animal trainer. She handled Chauncey and Christopher, Lincoln Mercury‘s famous “Sign of the Cat” cougars, and worked with animals for such TV shows as “Gunsmoke,” “Lassie,” “Daktari” and “Flipper.”

But Derby also witnessed widespread abuse and neglect of performing animals. That prompted her to write the 1976 best-seller, “The Lady and Her Tiger,” which launched her crusade.

In 1984, Derby and Stewart co-founded PAWS and opened a wildlife sanctuary in Galt the following year. PAWS became the first U.S. elephant sanctuary.

Today, PAWS operates threeNorthern California sanctuaries, including ARK 2000 in San Andreas. The refuges are home to eight elephants and more than 100 other exotic animals.

“Initially we did a lot of protesting, and peaceful leafleting, educating the public about animals in circuses,” Derby told The Bee in 2001. “I really believe the public gets it now.”

Pat Derby died peacefully last night in her home at ARK 2000. Ed Stewart, her partner of 37 years, was by her side.

Diagnosed with throat cancer in July of 2010, she fought her way through radiation and chemotherapy and continued to deal with side effects from treatment, including anemia. In early fall of last year came the news that cancer had returned.

Pat and Ed chose to keep this last fight a private matter. We honored their wishes.

It’s impossible for any of us to imagine life without Pat Derby – PAWS without Pat Derby – but she chose, and trained, her support team well, and under the leadership of Ed Stewart, Pat’s dreams and visions will be kept alive, her advocacy for animals will continue and PAWS will move forward.

We’ll miss her fire, determination and fearlessness; her intelligence and her passion.

We’ll miss her sense of humor.

Pat Derby was a partner, leader, mentor, teacher and friend. She was the first to champion the cause of performing animals, and today, because of her work and her fierce determination, most animal protection organizations have captive wildlife programs that address the issues of performing animals.

A celebration of Pat’s life will be planned at a later date. Ed has requested no flowers be sent. For anyone wishing to honor Pat, he would prefer donations be made to PAWS in her memory. Letters of condolences can be sent to P. O. Box 849, Galt, CA 95632, or emailed toinfo@pawsweb.org.

The Animals Of PAWS

A Tribute to Pat & All The Animals She Cared For

Uploaded on 25 Feb 2007

The Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) http://www.pawsweb.org is a non-profit organization that rescues and provides sanctuary to abused and abandoned animals. PAWS has garnered international recognition for it’s work with captive elephants. PAWS is located in Galt and San Andreas California

Listen to this amazing speaker who will blow away the myths, fill your mind with interesting facts, and help you make ethical choices for a healthy heart and soul. His charismatic and straightforward style is one of a kind – a must-see for anyone who cares about non-human animals or wishes to make the world a better place.

Viewer Discretion Advised- Some parts of the video include scenes from a slaughter-house

“Please sign the petition below, related to the previous link. These vile individuals need to seriously pay for the torturous, heinous acts committed upon 2 (1 pregnant) primates. The picture below is slightly blurred, thank goodness! I Can’t believe they thought posting such graphic pictures, of their vile actions, to face book would be ok..these are not children, they are soldiers, who walk around with deadly weapons.!!”

A horrible crime against animals happened last week in Vietnam: three Vietnamese soldiers tortured, skinned alive, eviscerated and barbecued two monkeys – a male and a pregnant female.

One of them had posted the pictures on Facebook triggering a public outcry in Vietnam that had finally lead to the arrest of these murderers who have admitted the killings.

What is very worrying about the incident is that the young soldier who posted the photos on Facebook did not think he did anything wrong, says Nga Pham from BBC Vietnamese.

By signing this petition, a message will be sent instantly to the Vietnamese authorities calling for severe punishment of the abusers and that thus, an example is being set. Furthermore, do we ask the Vietnamese government to introduce a mandatory animal rights and animal welfare education in all primary schools because it appears from this incident, that some Vietnamese citizens do not realize that torturing and killing sentient beings is wrong and that it is a criminal act.

For more information about this crime, please see our website but be WARNED that the article contains a very shocking picture:

WTNH) — A national advocacy group has filed a complaint against Hartford Hospital for using live animals for surgical training.

The nonprofit group says state-of-the-art simulators are used at most health facilities.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says it really comes down to the use of live animals, in the case of Hartford Hospital, a pig under anesthesia, to train doctors on emergency medical procedures to be performed on humans, instead of using the latest technology available.

Dr. Marjorie Cramer said, “I have a lot of trouble with the concept of using an animal, which doesn’t really resemble a human very much, has different thickness of skin, has different tissues underneath the skin.”

The alternative is using a simulator, which closely resembles human tissue. A training tool approved by the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Cramer is a retired plastic surgeon and is one of a handful of doctors who signed what they say is a criminal complaint against Hartford Hospital, that still uses live animals to train doctors in emergency medical procedures.

“If I were in a huge car accident and came into an emergency room and had someone try to save my life, I would feel a lot better had they practiced on a human based simulator,” Dr. Cramer said.

A statement issued by Hartford Hospital says its’ treatment of animals strictly adheres to the guidelines of the National Association of Biomedical Research stating “…scientific and medical knowledge developed through biomedical research and training has saved countless lives, has alleviated great pain and suffering, and has improved both animal and human health.”

The nonprofit advocacy organization filed the complaint, alleging the hospital is in violation of animal cruelty.

“It is animal cruelty because it is gratuitous,” said Dr. John Pippin. “It is unnecessary.”

Dr. John Pippin is the PCRM Director of Academic Affairs.

“We’ve met resistance at every level,” Dr. Pippin said. “We can’t establish a dialogue about this so we feel compelled to take this to the next level.”

He added Hartford Hospital is among five programs out of 278 in the U.S. and Canada still using live animals for trauma training.

The group has filed the complaint with the state’s attorney for the Hartford Judicial District and is seeking for action to be taken.

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DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG - SOME PICTURES & VIDEOS CAN & WILL BE VERY GRAPHIC - SO PLEASE, VIEW THIS BLOG AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.

You can find out more about me & this blog by reading "ABOUT THIS BLOG" on the menu (when i finish it) lol

PLEASE NOTE.....
Not all of my posts will be current news, or even about animal abuse! I do like to share other animal news, uplifting stories or videos; some that are funny or just touch the heart!

If I have anything to say on any post, you will see it in bold blue writing. I try to remain a lady, but it's hard to contain my anger & emotions at the some of the stories I post; I don’t have a heart of stone, tears stain many articles I write!

Lastly, my apologies for any errors; I am learning whilst posting, so if you find anything that doesn't work or a broken link, sorry, I'm only human!!!!

ABOUT THESE POSTS

I would just like to make readers aware, that I search for stories on the internet; regards animal abuse etc. I copy stories etc. from the internet; assuming these stories are correct at time of publishing. Having said that, sometimes the press get it wrong! So I just want to add that at the time of me posting a news story, I presume all the facts seem present & correct.
Please note....all people mentioned in this blog, are presumed innocent, until proven otherwise, in a court of law.

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Face Book – Please Take Notice

For anyone wishing to connect to me via my Facebook page...PLEASE NOTE, ONLY PEOPLE I ADD AS ANIMAL ADVOCATES CAN SEE MY WHOLE PAGE...I do this out of respect for those friends I have who do not wish to see graphic images, videos or links of animal abuse!
As 99% of my page is animal related; anyone not in the above group of friends; will only see a limited amount of posts!!
DUE TO ANIMAL HATERS...I WILL ONLY ADD PEOPLE WHO CAN PROVE WHO THEY ARE via Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter etc. & WHO HAVE A GENUINE INTEREST IN ANIMAL WELFARE... i.e. if your Facebook page has absolutely nothing to do with animals, I see no point in joining my page. My Facebook is solely for animal welfare, I am not interested in playing games etc. I don't mean to sound rude but I am not interested in the amount of friends I have, its the quality of those friends that count.
PLEASE DO NOT SEND REQUESTS FOR YOUR FRIENDS TO JOIN. I do not want anyone to be upset by graphic images etc.
My aim is to educate & raise awareness to the horrors animals face, at the hands of humans, every day, around the world!!
We can not hope to achieve better laws, to protect animals, unless we unite as one, to speak up for those who are voiceless!!
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